Admission Test Section One : Verbal Sample Questions:

1. DECREE : INFORM ::

A) fascinate : interest
B) gallop : canter
C) endure : persist
D) shout : whisper
E) resign : quit

2. Victorian poetess Christina Rossetti's potent sensual imagery compelled Edmond Gosse, perhaps the
most influential literary critic in late Victorian England, to observe that she "does not shrink from strong
delineation of the pleasures of life even when denouncing them." In the face of Rossetti's virtual
canonization by critics at the end of the nineteenth century, however, Virginia Woolf ignores her apparent
conservatism, instead seeing in her curiosity value and a model of artistic purity and integrity for women
writers. In 1930, the centenary of Rossetti's birth,Woolf identified her as "one of Shakespeare's more
recent sisters" whose life had been reclusively Victorian but whose achievement as an artist was enduring.
Woolf remembers Rossetti for her four volumes of explosively original poems loaded with vivid images
and dense emotional energy. "A Birthday," for instance, is no typical Victorian poem and is certainly unlike
predictable works of the era's best known women poets. Rossetti's most famous poem, "Goblin Market,"
bridges the space between simplistic fairy tale and complex adult allegory-at once Christian,
psychological, and profeminist. Like many of Rossetti's works, it is extraordinarily original and unorthodox
in form. Its subject matter is radical and therefore risky for a Victorian poetess because it implies
castigation of an economic (and even marital) marketplace dominated by men, whose motives are, at best,
suspect. Its Christian allusions are obvious but grounded in opulent images whose lushness borders on
the erotic. From Rossetti's work emerge not only emotional force, artistic polish, frequently ironic
playfulness, and intellectual vigor but also an intriguing, enigmatic quality. "Winter: My Secret," for
example, combines these traits along with a very high (and un-Victorian) level of poetic selfconsciousness.
"How does one reconcile the aesthetic sensuality of Rossetti's poetry with her repressed, ascetic
lifestyle?" Woolf wondered. That Rossetti did indeed withhold a "secret" both from those intimate with her
and from posterity is Lona Packer's thesis in her 1963 biography of Rossetti. Packer's claim that
Rossetti's was a secret of the heart has since been disproved through the discovery of hundreds of letters
by Rossetti, which reinforce the conventional image of her as pious, scrupulously abstinent, and
semi-reclusive. Yet the passions expressed in her love poems do expose the "secret" at the heart of both
Rossetti's life and art: a willingness to forego worldly pleasures in favor of an aestheticized Christian
version of transcendent fulfillment in heaven. Her sonnet "The World," therefore, becomes pivotal in
understanding Rossetti's literary project as a whole-her rhymes for children, fairy tale narratives, love
poems, and devotional commentaries. The world, for Rossetti, is a fallen place. Her work is pervasively
designed to force upon readers this inescapable Christian truth. The beauty of her poetry must be seen
therefore as an artistic strategy, a means toward a moral end.
It can be inferred from the passage that Rossetti's "The World"

A) was Rossetti's longest work
B) was Rossetti's last major work
C) reflects Rossetti's shift away from her earlier feminist viewpoint
D) is the most helpful expression of Rossetti's motives
E) combines several genres of poetry in a single work

3. The village of Vestmannaeyjar, in the far northern country of Iceland, is as bright and clean and up-to-date
as any American or Canadian suburb. It is located on the island of Heimaey, just off the mainland. One
January night in 1973, however, householders were shocked from their sleep. In some backyards red-hot
liquid was spurting from the ground.
Flaming "skyrockets" shot up and over the houses. The island's volcano, Helgafell, silent for seven
thousand years, was violently erupting! Luckily, the island's fishing fleet was in port, and within twenty-four
hours almost everyone was ferried to the mainland. But then the agony of the island began in earnest. As
in a nightmare, fountains of burning lava spurted three hundred feet high. Black, baseball-size cinders
rained down. An evilsmelling, eye-burning, throat-searing cloud of smoke and gas erupted into the air,
and a river of lava flowed down the mountain. The constant shriek of escaping steam was punctuated by
ear-splitting explosions. As time went on, the once pleasant village of Vestmannaeyjar took on a weird
aspect. Its street lamps still burning against the long Arctic night, the town lay under a thick blanket of
cinders. All that could be seen above the ten-foot black drifts were the tips of street signs. Some houses
had collapsed under the weight of cinders; others had burst into flames as the heat ignited their oil storage
tanks. Lighting the whole lurid scene, fire continued to shoot from the mouth of the looming volcano. The
eruption continued for six months. Scientists and reporters arrived from around the world to observe the
awesome natural event. But the town did not die that easily. In July, when the eruption ceased, the people
of Heimaey Island returned to assess the chances of rebuilding their homes and lives. They found tons of
ash covering the ground. The Icelanders are a tough people, however, accustomed to the strange and
violent nature of their Arctic land. They dug out their homes. They even used the cinders to build new
roads and airport runways. Now the new homes of Heimaey are warmed from water pipes heated by
molten lava.
The island's volcano had been inactive for-

A) seventy decades
B) seven hundred years
C) seven thousand months
D) seventy years
E) seven thousand years

4. Many great inventions are greeted with ridicule and disbelief. The invention of the airplane was no
exception. Although many people who heard about the first powered flight on December 17,1903, were
excited and impressed, others reacted with peals of laughter. The idea of flying an aircraft was repulsive
to some people. Such people called Wilbur and Orville Wright, the inventors of the first flying machine,
impulsive fools.
Negative reactions, however, did not stop the Wrights. Impelled by their desire to succeed, they continued
their experiments in aviation. Orville and Wilbur Wright had always had a compelling interest in
aeronautics and mechanics. As young boys they earned money by making and selling kites and
mechanical toys. Later, they designed a newspaper-folding machine, built a printing press, and operated
a bicycle-repair shop. In 1896, when they read about the death of Otto Lilienthal, the brother's interest in
flight grew into a compulsion. Lilienthal, a pioneer in hang-gliding, had controlled his gliders by shifting his
body in the desired direction. This idea was repellent to the Wright brothers, however, and they searched
for more efficient methods to control the balance of airborne vehicles. In 1900 and 1901, the Wrights
tested numerous gliders and developed control techniques. The brothers' inability to obtain enough lift
power for the gliders almost led them to abandon their efforts. After further study, the Wright brothers
concluded that the published tables of air pressure on curved surfaces must be wrong.
They set up a wind tunnel and began a series of experiments with model wings. Because of their efforts,
the old tables were repealed in time and replaced by the first reliable figures for air pressure on curved
surfaces. This work, in turn, made it possible for them to design a machine that would fly. In 1903 the
Wrights built their first airplane, which cost less than one thousand dollars. They even designed and built
their own source of propulsion- a lightweight gasoline engine. When they started the engine on December
1 7, the airplane pulsated wildly before taking off. The plane managed to stay aloft for twelve seconds,
however, and it flew one hundred twenty feet. By 1905 the Wrights had perfected the first airplane that
could turn, circle, and remain airborne for half an hour at a time. Others had flown in balloons or in hang
gliders, but the Wright brothers were the first to build a full-size machine that could fly under its own power.
As the contributors of one of the most outstanding engineering achievements in history, the Wright
brothers are accurately called the fathers of aviation.
The Wrights designed and built their own source of ____.

A) force for turning around
B) turning
C) force to going backward
D) force for moving forward
E) none of the above

5. The victory of the small Greek democracy of Athens over the mighty Persian empire in 490 B. C. is one of
the most famous events in history. Darius, king of the Persian empire, was furious because Athens had
interceded for the other Greek city-states in revolt against Persian domination. In anger the king sent an
enormous army to defeat Athens.
He thought it would take drastic steps to pacify the rebellious part of the empire. Persia was ruled by one
man. In Athens, however, all citizens helped to rule. Ennobled by this participation, Athenians were
prepared to die for their city-state. Perhaps this was the secret of the remarkable victory at Marathon,
which freed them from Persian rule. On their way to Marathon, the Persians tried to fool some Greek
city-states by claiming to have come in peace. The frightened citizens of Delos refused to believe this. Not
wanting to abet the conquest of Greece, they fled from their city and did not return until the
Persians had left. They were wise, for the Persians next conquered the city of Etria and captured its
people. Tiny Athens stood alone against Persia. The Athenian people went to their sanctuaries. There
they prayed for deliverance. They asked their gods to expedite their victory. The Athenians refurbished
their weapons and moved to the plain of Marathon, where their little band would meet the Persians. At the
last moment, soldiers from Plataea reinforced the Athenian troops. The Athenian army attacked, and
Greek citizens fought bravely. The power of the mighty Persians was offset by the love that the Athenians
had for their city. Athenians defeated the Persians in archery and hand combat.
Greek soldiers seized Persian ships and burned them, and the Persians fled in terror.
Herodotus, a famous historian, reports that 6400 Persians died, compared with only 192 Athenians.
Athens had ____the other Greek city-states against the Persians.

A) wanted to fight
B) refused help to
C) defeated
D) given orders for all to fight
E) intervened on behalf of

Solutions: